My first co-working experience
August 6, 2022
Evaluating Revitalising Redesdale
December 21, 2022
This year has felt like a bit of a whirlwind. After two years of uncertainty, January had a back to business feel about it; the whole sector felt like it was picking up the pieces of 2020 and 2021 and moving on and I feel like I have been chasing my tail ever since. Delayed projects, new funding bids, deadlines which have been rolled forward time and time again, have all suddenly got back in track and my diary is full again with work, alongside growing family and voluntary commitments. Since January I have supported fourteen different projects – working on project development, fundraising, consultation, evaluation and legacy planning. I have submitted bids totalling almost £4m. I love how working freelance allows me to juggle lots of different projects but when they all come at once it can be overwhelming.
August came as a bit of a surprise (my head was still in spring!) but once a big deadline was out of the way it was time to pause and make some time for myself.
A road trip around the east coast of Scotland was just what I needed. With the teenager off on his own adventures, me, husband and dog set off in a van with not much of a plan. The weather was kind to us, we immersed ourselves in a new landscape and took each day as it came. It was relaxing, restorative and peaceful. We, more or less, tuned out from the news and tried to forget about the big wide world. Instead, we watched seals and seabirds, camped in distant harbours, ate picnics on the shore, woke up to the sound of the sea, slept under big horizons, stepped back in time and, apart from the significant no show by the Fortrose dolphins, we saw something new every day.
Self care and the power of wildness is under-rated and all to easily neglected. Now it is back to real life feeling refreshed and ready for work again. None of us can keep going at 100 miles per hour all the time – now and again we all need to take time out, breathe deep, and look after ourselves. I’m fully expecting the last few months of 2022 to fly by but I feel a bit more ready for that now.
